As environment-friendly vehicles, electric powered vehicles such as a hybrid vehicle and electric vehicle are drawing attention. These electric powered vehicles incorporate, as the power source for vehicle running, a power storage device, an inverter, and a motor driven by the inverter. The hybrid vehicle further includes an engine as the power source.
Among such electric powered vehicles, there is known a vehicle including a boost converter, located between a power storage device and an inverter driving a motor, for boosting the voltage supplied to the inverter (hereinafter, also referred to as “system voltage”) to a level equal to or higher than the voltage of the power storage device.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2009-131079 (PTL 1) discloses an electric powered vehicle including such a boost converter. The vehicle is provided with an eco-mode switch for the user to designate fuel-efficient running. When the eco-mode switch is turned on, the upper limit value of the system voltage is lowered from the normal upper limit value to a restricted upper limit value. Accordingly, the system voltage is restricted to allow fuel-efficient running (refer to PTL 1).